Calgary or Vancouver?

Neither city is a beach destination, but only Vancouver has a shoreline at all. Its sand runs from English Bay and Sunset Beach in the West End to Kitsilano, Jericho and Spanish Banks, with the mountains across the water. On a warm summer evening the beaches are where the whole city goes, even though the sea is chilly and swimming means a brief dip or the saltwater pool at Kitsilano.

Calgary is a prairie city far from any coast. In summer, swimming means Sikome Lake in Fish Creek Park or Chestermere Lake, or floating the Bow River on an inner tube. The turquoise mountain lakes are lovely for a canoe but far too cold to swim in.

Vancouver is the stronger city for eating, mainly because of its Asian cooking. Cantonese dim sum and seafood in Richmond, Taiwanese snacks, ramen and sushi counters sit alongside Pacific produce such as Dungeness crab and oysters. Granville Island's market makes an easy morning of grazing.

Calgary's speciality is Alberta beef, from old-fashioned steakhouses to modern grills, plus the ginger beef it claims to have invented, which you can still order in Chinatown. It has decent craft beer around Manchester and Ramsay and some good immigrant cooking in the suburbs, but you eat well here rather than travel for the food.

Both are young cities that you can see in two or three days, but Vancouver has the more memorable sight. The Museum of Anthropology's glass hall of Northwest Coast totem poles and canoes has no real equivalent in Calgary. Gastown's Victorian warehouses and the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Garden add some texture.

Calgary's sights are about the settler West: the Glenbow's western art, Canadian music at Studio Bell, the living-history village at Heritage Park and the 1880s sandstone on Stephen Avenue. Its most important heritage, the dinosaur fossils and the Blackfoot sites, lies outside the city.

The two cities are about level here, and both are quiet midweek, but the kind of night out is different. Calgary's speciality is the country bar, with line dancing, a mechanical bull and cover bands, along with the patios of 17th Avenue SW. During the ten days of the Stampede the whole city stays out late.

Vancouver's nights are more polished but tamer: cocktail and wine bars in Gastown's brick buildings, brewery taprooms around Main Street, and the loud, young club strip on Granville Street at weekends. The Davie Village gives it a gay scene that Calgary cannot match.

Both cities sit next to superb country, but Vancouver has it on the doorstep. Grouse, Cypress and Seymour are less than half an hour from downtown, Stanley Park's cedars and the seawall are a walk away, and the sea adds kayaking in Deep Cove and whale watching. Further up the Sea-to-Sky Highway you reach the climbing walls at Squamish and the alpine terrain at Whistler.

Calgary's mountains are bigger and wilder but further off, and you need a car. Kananaskis is about an hour away, with golden larches in September and fewer people than the parks. Banff has Johnston Canyon, glacial lakes, elk, bighorn sheep and bears, and the ski fields at Sunshine and Lake Louise.

Calgary has the better range of outings, as long as you drive. Banff and Canmore are mountain towns to the west, and Drumheller's badlands hold the Royal Tyrrell Museum's world-class dinosaur collection. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a UNESCO site, is about two hours south.

From Vancouver most outings go into the landscape rather than to other places. The main exception is Victoria, a long day that includes the ferry crossing. Steveston's fishing harbour, the fur-trade fort at Fort Langley, Bowen Island and Whistler's village make pleasant but lighter days out.

Both are safe, easy cities for children, but they work differently. In Calgary the CTrain takes you to the zoo and its life-size dinosaurs, and TELUS Spark adds hands-on science. Heritage Park's steam train, the summer zip lines at Canada Olympic Park and the fossils at Drumheller are easiest by car. In July there is also the Stampede midway and rodeo.

Vancouver puts more of it in one place. Stanley Park alone has the aquarium, a miniature train, a water park and the flat seawall for scooters. Science World and the little False Creek ferries to Granville Island are central, and the canyon suspension bridges are a short trip away. Its weak point is the rain outside summer.

Vancouver is much easier without a car. The driverless SkyTrain runs from the airport into a walkable downtown, the SeaBus crosses to North Vancouver, and the seawall turns cycling into sightseeing. Only Kitsilano, the university and the mountain trailheads take more effort.

Calgary's downtown grid is compact, and the Plus 15 skywalks help in cold weather. Beyond that, two CTrain lines and slow buses cover a sprawling city. Banff, Kananaskis and Drumheller really need a car, which is why most visitors hire one at the airport.

Vancouver offers more choice. Robson Street has the flagship stores and Alberni Street the luxury houses, and the city makes its own technical outdoor clothing and athleisure. Granville Island's glassblowers, Main Street vintage shops and Richmond's Asian malls give it more variety than Calgary.

Calgary is mostly malls, such as CORE and Chinook Centre, with independent shops in Kensington and Inglewood. Its one real speciality is western wear: hand-made boots, felt hats and saddlery from long-established outfitters. Both cities are good places to buy Indigenous art.

Calgary is the cheaper city to stay in. Its hotels cost less than those on the coast, except in Stampede week, and food courts and suburban family restaurants keep meals manageable. The costs come in the mountains: a hire car, park entry, Banff hotels and lift passes.

Vancouver is expensive from the moment you look at rooms, especially in summer, with few cheap beds near the centre. Many of its pleasures cost nothing, though, including the seawall, Stanley Park and the beaches, and dim sum and noodle shops are good, fairly cheap meals.

The two scenes are similar in size, and both are regional rather than reasons to travel, but Vancouver has a slight edge in summer. Shakespeare in tents at Bard on the Beach, the Fringe on Granville Island, and the jazz and folk festivals give it a full summer programme. The symphony plays in the Orpheum, a 1927 movie palace.

Calgary's programme is centred on the Werklund Centre, home of the Philharmonic and Theatre Calgary. Its most local entertainment is country bands in bars, the folk festival on Prince's Island and the Stampede's evening grandstand show with chuckwagon races.

Vancouver is the better place to unwind without leaving town. The city has a green, unhurried pace, with seawall strolls, forest paths, a long yoga tradition and plenty of massage places in Chinatown and Richmond. You need to drive towards Whistler for a big outdoor spa.

Calgary itself is practical rather than restful, with hotel spas and yoga studios. For real rest you leave the city, either for the outdoor hot pools of the Nordic spa in Kananaskis or Banff's historic Upper Hot Springs, or for a quiet weekend in Canmore.